The Patriot (2000 Film) - Cast

Cast

• Mel Gibson as Benjamin Martin: The main protagonist. A veteran of the French and Indian War as the "hero" of the fictional "Fort Wilderness" and widowed father of seven children, Benjamin does what he can to avoid fighting in the Revolutionary War knowing the implications surrounding it. When his oldest son, Gabriel joins up, and his second born son, Thomas is killed, he takes it upon himself to join and fight with the colonial militia. He is nicknamed "The Ghost" by the British. He is based on a composite of historical characters which include Thomas Sumter, Daniel Morgan, Nathanael Greene, Andrew Pickens, and Francis Marion.
• Heath Ledger as Gabriel Martin: Benjamin's eldest son and child, he decides to join up with the Continental Army against his father's wishes. He is killed during an attack on the Green Dragoons camp.
• Joely Richardson as Charlotte Selton: Benjamin's sister-in-law and owner of a plantation. She looks after Benjamin's children while he is fighting. At the end of the film, it suggests she married Benjamin and had a child by him, but only after, it should be noted, Benjamin agrees that "she is not her sister," his late wife.
• Jason Isaacs as Colonel William Tavington: The main antagonist. Colonel of the Green Dragoons, he is portrayed as a charismatic sociopath and a brutal commander. Long ago, his late father wasted away the family money, along with William's inheritance. He suggests to Cornwallis in acquiring the Ohio territory as payment after the war since the brutality his commander wants from him sacrifices his social standing in English society. He is nicknamed "The Butcher" by Brigadier General O'Hara. The character is loosely based on Banastre Tarleton.
• Chris Cooper as Colonel Harry Burwell: One of Benjamin's commanding officers in the French and Indian War and a colonel of the Continental Army. He fought in the 1775 Battle of Bunker Hill. When his wife gives birth to their firstborn son, they name him after Benjamin's late eldest son, Gabriel. His character is loosely based on, Lieutenant Colonel ("Lighthorse Harry Lee") Henry Lee II.
• Tchéky Karyo as Major Jean Villeneuve: A French soldier who trains Martin's militia, he holds a grudge against Martin for his part in the French and Indian War, but they become close friends by the war's end. He explains in the film that he watched his wife and two daughters, 12-year-old Violette and 10-year-old Pauline (both green-eyed), being burned in the ship that carried them by the British, which explains his hatred for them. He serves as Martin's second-in-command.
• René Auberjonois as Reverend Oliver: A minister of Pembroke who volunteers to fight with the militia. He also tries to give spiritual advice to his fellow soldiers. He is one of the eighteen captured men taken to Fort Carolina and released later on by Benjamin. He aides Gabriel in killing Captain Bordon, but is mortally shot by Tavington. Before dying, he courageously tosses his musket to Gabriel so that he may finish off Tavington.
• Lisa Brenner as Anne Howard Martin: Gabriel's childhood friend and love interest, whom he marries later in the film. She is killed in the town church along with the rest of the town on Tavington's orders.
• Tom Wilkinson as Lieutenant General Charles, Lord Cornwallis: A general of the British army. While pompous and arrogant, he is disgusted by Tavington's savage tactics. Cornwallis is a skilled commander, with Martin calling him a genius, but he sees militia as nothing more than "farmers with pitchforks" and is easily duped by Martin in a key scene. His two Great Danes, Jupiter and Mars, are a gift from His Majesty, King George III.
• Peter Woodward as Brigadier General Charles O'Hara: Cornwallis' second-in-command. Like Cornwallis he also does not share Tavington's views on war.
• Donal Logue as Dan Scott: One of Benjamin's men. He is a racist and bullies the former slave Occam, but grows to befriend him, especially when saved by him while wounded. During the last battle, Dan mentions that it is October now, signifying to Occam that it has been 12 months since the former slave signed up to battle, making him a free man. After Occam mentions that he is aware of this and is fighting now on his own accord, he tells Occam he's honored to fight by his side.
• Leon Rippy as John Billings: One of Benjamin's neighbors and oldest friends who joins the militia. He is one of the 18 captured men taken to Fort Carolina and released later on by Benjamin. Afterward, John helps Charlotte Selton and Benjamin's children escape the burning of the Selton plantation. He commits suicide after Tavington's men kill his wife and son and sets fire to his property.
• Adam Baldwin as Captain James Wilkins: An officer in the Loyalist Colonial militia recruited into the Green Dragoons by Captain Bordon. He knows everything about Benjamin Martin, and is called upon by Tavington to divulge such information when required. Earlier on, at the South Carolina Assembly in Charleston, he is one of the twelve out of forty to vote against a levy for the Continental Army. He fights alongside Tavington, and also shares these brutal views on how "all those who stand against England deserve to die a traitor's death." When he is forced to burn the church at Pembroke, with town residents inside by Tavington, only then does he regret his own words and realize what kind of man his commanding officer really is. He is last seen fighting alongside the British in the Battle of Cowpens. His fate is not shown.
• Jamieson K. Price as Captain Bordon: Tavington's second-in-command of the Green Dragoons and chief intelligence officer. He is just as ruthless as his commander, "strong-arming" prisoners during interrogations. He is killed by Gabriel in the youth's raid against the Dragoons.
• Jay Arlen Jones as Occam: An African slave. He is sent to fight in his master's place. He is taunted and bullied by the other members of the militia, but is treated as an equal by Benjamin, Gabriel, Jean, and later on by Dan Scott and the others. He gives out information of the captured eighteen militia men at Fort Carolina while escaping Tavington's trap. After serving a year in the Continental Army, he becomes a free man, but nonetheless still served with the militia until the end of the war.
• Joey D. Vieira as Peter Howard: Anne Howard's father, who lost his left leg and most of his hearing while fighting the French and Indian War. He likens British taxation policies to the British taking his other leg.
• Gregory Smith as Thomas Martin: Benjamin's second son, he, like Gabriel, is anxious to fight in the war, but Benjamin says he has to wait because of his age. He is shot and killed by Tavington when he protests against Gabriel's arrest. Tavington rebukes him as a "stupid boy" for his actions afterward.
• Mika Boorem as Margaret Martin: Benjamin's oldest daughter, she is often seen taking care of her younger siblings.
• Skye McCole Bartusiak as Susan Martin: The youngest daughter and child among Benjamin's seven children, she has a problem with speaking, which may be a post-traumatic reaction to the death of their mother; only later on does she finally open up. Her feelings towards her father change radically as the film progresses, and after Benjamin leaves from the furlough to rejoin his militia, in a very emotional scene, she seemingly forgives him and tells him she'll say anything he wants to make him stay, to which Benjamin can only promise to return, which Susan accepts.
• Trevor Morgan as Nathan Martin: Third son, he and Samuel help around the farm. When Gabriel is taken prisoner and Thomas is killed, he and Samuel help his father on a rescue mission. Unlike Samuel, he is "glad" to kill British soldiers.
• Bryan Chafin as Samuel Martin: Fourth son, he is usually seen helping Nathan around the farm. When Gabriel is taken prisoner and Thomas is killed, he helps his father, Benjamin, rescue Gabriel by killing several British soldiers, even though he doesn't want to kill. For a short while, he becomes scared of his father after he witnesses him brutally killing and mutilating, post-mortem, a British soldier with a tomahawk.
• Logan Lerman as William Martin: Benjamin's fifth and youngest son, he is often seen being taken care of by his sister, Margaret.
• Terry Layman as General George Washington.
• Andy Stahl as General Nathanael Greene.
• Grahame Wood as a friendly British Lieutenant at Martin's farm who interacts with both Benjamin Martin and Colonel Tavington. He sees Tavington's orders to kill the Colonial wounded and other prisoners revolting, but remains silent and follows through with the orders without question, largely out of fear for his own life. He dies shortly afterwards in Martin's skirmish to rescue his son, Gabriel.